Cat Lincoln

Cat leads an elite, high-performing team in a virtual environment, leveraging cutting-edge technology and innovative management practices to cultivate a celebrated corporate culture with an 80% employee retention-rate. In 2017, CLEVER was recognized for its outstanding culture by global authority Great Places to Work. The prestigious achievement was earned based on universally outstanding ratings by CLEVER employees. In addition, CLEVER is proud to be a WBENC certified women-owned and operated organization.

With more than 20 years of Fortune 500 marketing experience, including senior roles at ADP and Wells Fargo where she managed the in-house advertising agency for the Private Bank, Cat’s client-centric approach emphasizes service and results. Her leadership helped propel CLEVER from a bootstrapped startup in 2009 into a thriving full-service agency. Over the past decade Cat led the go-to-market sales strategy for CLEVER, growing it to a profitable, multi-million dollar enterprise. Inc. 5000 recognized CLEVER as one of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for two consecutive years and CLEVER was ranked #37 in Entrepreneur Magazine’s top 500 companies.

Cat’s work with such clients as Ford, Disney, Amazon, LEGO, Unilever, and Delta Airlines helped establish CLEVER as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies (Silicon Valley Business Journal) twice. CLEVER has also won several agency awards including “Best Small Agency” (Shorties) and Outstanding Digital Innovation (Marketers That Matter).

Cat and her co-founders established the industry as professional bloggers. Together, they authored the Today Show-featured definitive guide on the industry, Influencer Marketing For Dummies.

In 2013, Cat and the CLEVER team were proud to partner with Make-A-Wish and lead the online strategy and execution of the global phenomenon #BatKid, which generated 2 billion impressions worldwide (including a shout-out from the International Space Station). An in-demand speaker, Cat gave the TEDx talk on the history-making #Batkid story, Social Media & Global Participation.

Sought after for her industry-leading insight, Cat has presented on influencer marketing strategy and leadership at conferences including NY Media Festival, OMMA Social NYC, CES, Watermark, Alliance of CEOs, San Jose Capital Club, Mom 2.0 Summit, PBS Brandmasters Seminar, Springboard Summit, Wells Fargo Social Media Summit, and the Radian 6 Users Conference. Most recently she was the keynote speaker for the inaugural Influencer Marketing Conference & Expo. She is a frequent guest lecturer on the topic of social media and influencer marketing, including teaching undergraduate and graduate classes at University of California, Berkeley and Saint Mary’s College. Through her participation in the Alliance of CEOs, she was a mentor and presenter at the San Francisco Junior Achievement Board. She is a founding member of the Influencer Marketing Association, and serves on the Advisory Board and Marketing Committee.

Cat has been featured in numerous top-tier publications including Marie Claire, Fortune, AdAge, Campaign, Mic, Digiday, Inc., Fast Company, CNET, Forbes and The Economist, and she was included on the FOLIO Magazine Top Women in Media list.